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He said that the station was fundamental for the country and should be financed predominantly through public means.
FILE: Minister of Communications Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams. Image: EWN.
CAPE TOWN / JOHANNESBURG – The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) cannot be allowed to die a natural death, said Communications Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams.
He said that the station was fundamental for the country and should be financed mainly through public means.
On Tuesday, Ndabeni-Abrahams responded to a debate about the growing crisis at the corporation, which plans to lay off hundreds of employees.
ALSO READ: Opposition MPs say restructuring process and cost cutting at SABC are ‘inevitable’
Ndabeni-Abrahams said the SABC was not immune from state capture, which affected many state-owned companies.
“The SABC was also involved in the state capture and all of us here should take the blame because it happened under our supervision.”
He said the public broadcaster has an expensive public mandate amid rising signal distribution costs and intense competition.
ALSO READ: CWU describes negotiations with SABC management as hostile
The minister added that it was public knowledge that SABC was financed commercially with only 3.5% in government donations.
“You have the opportunity to create jobs for many of our youth, women and people with disabilities. Therefore, we believe that SABC can never be irrelevant as many would like us to believe ”.
Meanwhile, the Labor Court is expected to rule Wednesday on an urgent request from the Bemawu Broadcasting Workers’ Union seeking to stop job cuts at SABC.
The reduction process has been halted until the end of this month to allow for further negotiations.
But Bewawu said the postponement was not good enough and demands that the entire Section 189 process be eliminated.
Bemawu said he hopes the Labor Court will rule in his favor when it passes judgment on Wednesday.
He wants the court to order the SABC to reverse its decision to cut about 400 jobs.
The broadcasting union believes that SABC has not explored all the processes to avoid job losses.
He has also accused the SABC of failing to openly consult with the union and affected employees before going ahead with the Section 189 process.
Last month, workers held lunchtime pickets outside SABC’s offices to demand that management take responsibility for the corporation’s long-standing financial troubles.
‘OBSERVE: It’s not okay’: SABC journalist makes a tearful call against layoffs
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